People often wish to communicate with others in a variety of different ways, such as text messaging, phone conferencing, and video conferencing, for example. However, it is often difficult to know whether other users are available for a communication session or whether other users are currently engaged in an ongoing communication session. Many people have media host devices (set-top boxes, digital video recorders, etc.) that may receive and source content to a display device, such as a television. The current state of the art could be advanced if users could access information regarding the availability of other users and either initiate new communication sessions or join ongoing communication sessions using their media host devices.